K-pop Boy Band B.A.P Show Their Huge Popularity Outside of Korea

B.A.P have been utterly inescapable since they hit the K-pop scene last year, but when you work as hard as they do, that kind of unavoidability is to be expected. They’ve put out six physical releases since their debut (five in 2012 alone — the most of any K-pop act that year), and while some may consider that to be overkill, it established the group as one of the top new rookie boy bands in the industry.

Most recently, they scored their third top twenty hit with “One Shot,” while the single’s accompanying EP gave the boys their highest-selling physical release to date. While it looks B.A.P have finally solidified their spot in Korea after more than a year of non-stop work, they’ve also managed to build a huge fanbase overseas.

All 10,000 tickets for the U.S. leg of their upcoming world tour, B.A.P LIVE ON EARTH, reportedly sold out in an hour. The same thing happened in Japan, with their 5000 seat venue selling-out instantly, leading to the addition of another show, which also sold out. The numbers may not seem like much on the surface, but for a relatively new group out of Korea, it’s a big deal.

In addition to their sold-out tour, B.A.P were also ranked second in a list of the most popular K-pop boy bands in Germany (currently the third biggest music market in the world). They came in behind BIGBANG, but beat out the likes of Super Junior, SHINee, B2ST, and INFINITE.

B.A.P are also known for charting high on iTunes every time they release an album. Their most recent, One Shot, reached No. 1 on the iTunes Hip-Hop chart in America, Canada, and New Zealand, in addition to topping Billboard’s World Albums chart.

At this rate, 2013 is going to be even bigger for B.A.P than 2012 was.